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SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--Marking the end
of 23 months of a nuclear power-free Japan, the Sendai nuclear power
plant began generating and transmitting electricity on Aug. 14.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. activated the No. 1 reactor at the
Sendai plant on Aug. 11, to become the first nuclear reactor brought
back online under new safety regulations instituted by the Nuclear
Regulation Authority after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The
nation had been without nuclear power since September 2013.

At 9 a.m. on Aug. 14, utility workers connected an electrical
generator with power cables from the plant’s central control room.
The workers applauded when it was confirmed that the reactor began
power generation and transmission for the first time in more than
four years.

In a statement released the same day, Yoichi Miyazawa, the
minister of trade and industry, said the start of generating and
transmitting power at the plant “represents an important step
forward to achieving a well-balanced energy mix and a more stable
supply of electricity.”

The output from the reactor was expected to reach 30 percent of
its full capacity of 890,000 kilowatts on Aug. 14, and will be raised
gradually to reach full power generation in about 10 days.

The reactor is expected to begin commercial operations in early
September unless the NRA detects safety problems during its final
inspection.

Michiaki Uriu, Kyushu Electric Power president, said in a
statement that the company will continue its efforts to improve
safety at the plant with “determination to prevent an accident
similar to the one at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant from
occurring.”

“We will gradually increase the output while closely monitoring
the condition of the plant,” he said.
Kyushu Electric officials said the utility will proceed cautiously
with operation of the No. 1 reactor as its operations had been
suspended for a periodic inspection in May 2011.

It will be the first time that electricity generated at a nuclear
plant will be supplied to households and businesses since the No. 4
reactor at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear power plant in
Fukui Prefecture went offline in September 2013.

Kyushu Electric, which relied on nuclear energy for about 40
percent of its power supply before the Fukushima disaster unfurled,
plans to restart the No. 2 reactor at the Sendai plant in
mid-October.
It has also applied for NRA safety screening to resume operations
of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at its Genkai plant in Saga
Prefecture.

Preparations for restarts are progressing at the No. 3 and No. 4
reactors of Kansai Electric’s Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui
Prefecture and the No. 3 reactor of Shikoku Electric Power Co.’s
Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture.

The restart of the Sendai plant is likely to give momentum to
efforts by the electric power industry and Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe’s government to restart idle nuclear reactors nationwide.

But municipalities located near nuclear power plants have yet to
map out effective evacuation plans for people in local medical and
welfare facilities in the event of nuclear accidents.

A shortage of buses and other transportation modes to evacuate
residents remains unsolved, while it also is unclear if utility
companies can effectively shut down reactors when a Fukushima-level
accident takes place at a nuclear plant.

Opinion polls have shown that more Japanese are opposed to the
reactor restarts than those who support them.